Information for Donating Investigators

We commend you and thank you for supporting the international scientific effort to share and archive laboratory mice. We at The Jackson Laboratory hope to work effectively with you, using the guidelines below.

Responsibilities of The Jackson Laboratory

Upon acceptance of the Donating Investigator's (DI) strain, we will import the strain and determine whether to maintain it initially as a breeding colony or to cryopreserve it. This determination is based on information from you, the DI, and advice from internal and external scientific advisory committees.

We monitor and use registered interest to manage strains to best meet the needs of the research community. The interest in new strains is captured via telephone inquiries or online registry.

We cryopreserve and archive the strain, ensuring a resource for current and future research. Cryopreservation of all strains occurs upon arrival on campus where feasible. Cryopreserved stock serves as a back-up and a source for supplying animals should the colony be removed from the shelf.

We assign a unique stock number and proper nomenclature to each strain. We keep nomenclature in compliance with the International Nomenclature Committee's guidelines.

We expedite distribution of new strains. Circumstances such as the number of animals we initially receive for the rederivation process, the genotype of the animals and how well they breed in isolators influences the length of time to reach distribution.

We adapt, develop or refine a genotyping protocol and post all working protocols on our public Web site.

We resolve legal issues associated with importation and distribution of the strain. (We strongly encourage DI’s to allow the broadest access to the strain.)

We make a best effort to ensure that the worldwide research community is aware of the strain’s availability and application through email campaigns and inclusion in JAX® Mice literature.

We provide the DI with periodic updates from acceptance to release for distribution. These include:

review of the initial phenotype description of a strain

arrival on The Jackson Laboratory campus

completion of colony expansion or cryopreservation and available for distribution (AVD) date

any major delays in making the strain AVD

decisions made to provide the strain from the Cryopreservation Resource after arrival on campus due to low registered interest or sales volume.

We may provide the DI up to three pairs, or six mice, of the line donated, at no charge (shipping costs are to be paid by the DI), as long as the line is maintained as a live (on the shelf) colony. Note: for strains accepted for Cryopreservation Only, the DI must decide whether or not he/she wants free mice upon the Lab's acceptance of the strain. Once the strain is cryopreserved, the DI will be charged a recovery cost. Mice may be shipped to a destination of choice, EXCEPT to third parties for resale.

Responsibilities of the Donating Investigator

Provide The Jackson Laboratory with accurate information on the strain.

Provide the Lab the number and genotype of mice requested for importation in a timely manner.

Review the initial text description of the strain and return it to the designated contact.

Incur costs associated with shipping of mice and materials to The Jackson Laboratory.

Encourage investigators seeking mice submitted to the repository, to register their interest in new strains under development online or calling Customer Service at 800-422-6423 or 207-288-5845.

Update the information, including new publications, on his/her strain. Information on initiatives that could lead to potential increase in demand is also appreciated.